If Shirley Jackson's simple parable, "The Lottery", couldn't inspire self-reflection in an arguably simpler time, one has to wonder what messages today -- such as that of Bojack Horseman's "The Lottery" episode -- are falling on deaf ears in these times of increasing gun violence in America.

Despite a premise that feels ripped from today's headlines, the debut film from writer-director Henry Dunham works as both a tense reflection on these times of gun violence and an effective study of something far more timeless.